Colindale New Homes Impressing Many Buyers

We catch up with Simon Halfhide, who tells us about the progress being made at Redrow’s huge development in Colindale, the kind of new homes currently for sale there and the amenities it is bringing to this part of northwest London. 

Can you give us an overview of the Colindale development?   

Colindale Gardens is bringing nearly 3,000 new homes to the former Hendon Police College site, right opposite Colindale Tube station and about 22 minutes from King’s Cross on the Northern line. They’re set around Peel Park, which is four acres of public space which we’re hoping to open in spring 2019. It’s got a mix of studios to four-bedroom homes and will also be providing shops, restaurants, a residents-only gym and concierge service, and there will also be a new school. We've recently got planning approval for our second phase.   

Have you had a wide range of people interested in buying so far?  

We've had a lot of local people, and I think when you've got a site of this size it draws in a multitude of types of purchasers. You've got downsizers, because it's a lock-up-and-leave and it's nice and convenient, to first-time buyers, because we launched Help to Buy back in September – I think that's a key thing for us in many ways. Another is the quality of the build. I've also got a Mandarin-speaking member of staff – there's quite a large Chinese community already here in Colindale. 

What are the current prices? 

An apartment with one bedroom starts at £385,000, two bedrooms at £495,000, three-beds at £545,000. We've got three- and four-bedroom townhouses: three-beds start at £725,000, the four-beds at £780,000. The duplexes – and we haven't got many of those left – start from £675,000 for a three-bed and £745,000 for a four-bed.  

Do the show homes show exactly what people will get at Colindale Gardens? 

We review it phase by phase. At the moment what we have in the marketing suite is what you get. There are upgrades, but there is a very good basis specification. For the next phase we will review our interiors, we'll see what the trends are at the time, and just see where we're at in terms of what people's expectations are. 

But I think probably here more than our other developments we do offer a few more upgrades so you can make your property a bit more bespoke.  

What sort of upgrades are there?  

Well, you may be looking at better flooring, a few more wardrobes, it may be a different worktop in your kitchen - not huge ranges but just a few bits to tweak if you wanted to do that. I think in future phases we will introduce a few more options for people to personalise their new homes. It will mainly be more options for floorings and fixtures and fittings in the kitchen and bathrooms.        

Will Colindale Gardens be opening out to the local community?  

From where our marketing suite is, there will be a boulevard which will take you straight up to Peel Park, four acres of open space. There will be a play area and it will be a place where people can have picnics, play football, play cricket. In years to come, there will hopefully be a farmers' market and various events taking place, and it will very much be a focal point of Colindale Gardens.  

There are other areas or open spaces which can be a little quieter if you just want to get away from it all and read a book, but I think that Peel Park will be important because it will very much be the hub and the centre point of the development, which I think is key. 

What other developments are you currently looking after? 

There’s a site in Chiswick - 500 Chiswick High Road; The West Works in Southall; Lyon Square in Harrow; and also Padcroft in West Drayton. Key to all of those is they're very close to Tube stations or Crossrail, schooling or universities.  

Crossrail is proving to be very important to buyers? 

In regenerated areas like Southall and West Drayton – Southall particularly – Crossrail is a huge driver. Even though its launch has been delayed, people understand that in Southall you can be in Bond Street in 17 minutes or you can be in Heathrow in eight. Canary Wharf is just over 30 minutes. Canary Wharf properties are just over twice the price of west London. You can still work in there but if you can't afford to rent or live locally, you can live just half-an-hour away.  

With Crossrail there's going to be ten trains an hour and they're just going to open up the whole of London - you know, you're not going to have to be in one particular area and be a slave to that area in terms of living. You can commute into the centre but have the benefits of being near Heathrow, or getting on the M25, getting out of town. Certainly Southall has a huge Asian community and people want to stay more locally, where they have family. They don't necessarily need to move further away. I think that will be quite a big driver.  

What’s the mix of properties available at these other developments?  

It's predominantly one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. They're more our traditional sort of 300- or 400-unit size. Chiswick is slightly different, we've got just over 72 units there including some townhouses, and we've only some of those and some one-beds left for sale. 

Is Help to Buy as an option at those developments too? 

Yes, they all have Help to Buy. Lyon Square in Harrow is about three-quarters sold and I would say certainly 60% are owner-occupiers there. ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ has been huge, particularly in Harrow.  

When are the marketing suite and show homes here in Colindale Gardens open? 

We're open seven days a week, from 10.00am to 6.00pm, and we've got one- and two-bedroom show apartments here as well as a room with townhouse models. We’ve also fitted out a duplex. We'll open up a townhouse show home in April 2019.